Daily Devotional for Wednesday, April 9

Elijah on the Mountain

“And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him,” 1 Kings 18:21.

The children of Israel’s response to Elijah’s question that day on Mount Carmel must be among the saddest answers in all of God’s Word. When Elijah asked the nation who they would serve, “the people answered him not a word” (verse 21). Not one man would stand up for Jehovah! This was the result of more than sixty years of evil leadership. It began under King Jeroboam and continued to worsen with each successive ruler. Now, Ahab was king and had provoked God to anger more than any king before him.

            The so-called contest on Mount Carmel was no contest at all. The real contest existed in the hearts of the children of Israel. Their hearts had been given to Baal. When Elijah prayed, he prayed for the hearts of the people, “Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again” (verse 37). Fire reigned down from Heaven consuming the drenched sacrifice, the wet wood, the altar of twelve stones and all the water in the trench. God’s awesome display of power was to turn the hearts of the people back to Him. After more than sixty years of idol worship, the children of the Northern Kingdom of Israel met the true God that day.

            The question Elijah asked Israel that day is a question we must all answer. How long will we  serve the gods of this world? No matter how long you have been away, you can return to God today. You, too, can have a transformative, mountain-top experience when you believe, “The Lord, he is the God” (verse 39).

REFLECTION

“And when the all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God: the Lord, he is the God” (1 Kings 18:39).

Karen Meigs